A typical physical communication channel, such as an Ethernet cable, introduces inter-symbol interference (ISI) in the received data signal. To minimize the adverse effects of ISI and to improve signal to noise ratio (SNR), it is customary to include in the receiver a filter known as an “equalizer”. In some receivers, the entire equalizer is adaptive, but in such cases convergence of the equalizer may be rather slow. In other receivers a fixed equalizer is used in combination with an adaptive equalizer to provide improved convergence. However, even with use of a fixed equalizer and an adaptive equalizer in combination, convergence of the adaptive equalizer may be slower than is desirable.